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Great Exhibition

Famous people of the time attended the Great Exhibition, including Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Michael Faraday (who assisted with the planning and judging of exhibits), Samuel Colt, members of the Orléanist royal family and the writers Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, George Eliot, Alfred Tennyson, and William Makepeace Thackeray. The future Arts and Crafts proponent William Morris, then a teenager, later said he refused to attend the Exhibition on the grounds of taste. Exhibits showcased include the first public flush toilets invented by George Jennings.
The opening music, under the superintendence of William Sterndale Bennett, was directed by George Thomas Smart. Organised by Howard Staunton, the first international chess tournament took place at the Exhibition. The world's first soft drink, Schweppes, was the official sponsor of the event. Provided by Wikipedia